Ὑλλάριμα(in Ancient Greek) | |
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| Location | Kapraklar,Muğla Province,Turkey |
|---|---|
| Region | Caria |
| Coordinates | 37°30′18″N28°20′58″E / 37.505071°N 28.34938°E /37.505071; 28.34938 |
Hyllarima (Ancient Greek:Ὑλλάριμα,Carian: 𐊤𐊣𐊠
𐊪𐊹yλarmi-[1][2]) was an inland town of northeasternancient Caria.[3] Its site is located nearMesevle inAsiatic Turkey.[3][4] Hyllarima is the find-site of about 30inscriptions and is the type-site of one variant of theCarian alphabets. It governed a number of ruralsanctuaries, of which the most notable is that ofZeus Hyllos.[5][6]
The settlement's name appears in Greek sources as Hyllarima (Ancient Greek:Ὑλλάριμα). This is thought to derive from the epithet of the local deity Zeus Hyllos; Hyllos may originally have been a native Anatolian god which merged with Zeus throughsyncretism. Similar processes can be seen atPanamara andLabraunda in Caria, whose chief sanctuaries were forZeus Panamaros andZeus Labraundos respectively.[7]
The Carian name of Hyllarima is attested asyλarmi- in an inscribed list of "priests of the gods of Hyllarima",qmoλš msoτ yλarmiτ (ʘ𐊪𐊫𐊣𐤭 𐊪𐊰𐊫𐋇 𐊤𐊣𐊠𐊪𐊹𐋇).[8] The formyλarmiτ is inflected, resulting in the syncope of the original medial vowel /i/ which survives in the Greek form.[9]
The archaic form of Hyllarima might beWallarima, which is attested inHittite texts of the 2nd millennium BCE as the name of a community in this region, alongside nearbyIyalanda (Alinda).[10]
It is thought that the otherwise-unknown toponym Kaprima (Ancient Greek:Κάπριμα), the site ofEupolemus' defeat byPtolemaeus according toDiodorus Siculus, is a corruption of Hyllarima.[11][12] This corruption corresponds with the well-known alternation between initial /h-/ and /k-/ in Carian toponyms, such as inHydai/Kydai orHyromos/Kyramos/Euromos.[13]
IfWallarima is an early mention of Hyllarima, the community may have existed as early as the 14th century BCE.[10] Excavations have shown that the community moved from one fortified hilltop settlement (modern Asarcıktepe) to another nearby (modern Kapraklar) sometime in the 4th century BCE.[14][12]
The political history of Hyllarima is poorly known before theHellenistic period. The earliest known inscription from the vicinity shows that it recognised theconquest ofAlexander the Great; it gives its date of creation "(in) the kingship ofPhilip". Carian: (𐊾𐊠) 𐊽𐊾𐊲𐊸𐊫 𐊷𐊹𐋃𐊹𐊷𐊲𐊰,(δa) kδuśo Pilipus.[8]
Because Philip III Arrhidaeus was only king in name, Hyllarima was probably under the control ofAsander,satrap of Caria since thePartition of Babylon, at this time (c. 323 – c. 313 BCE).Antigonus I subsequently conquered Caria.[15] Hyllarima was later governed by the dynastPleistarchus, who fortified the hilltop in the 290s BCE.[16] Aproxeny inscription from the time of Pleistarchus shows that Hyllarima had adopted the institutions of a Greekpolis by the 3rd century, whose chief magistrate was theeponymous archon.[17][12]
Hyllarima fell underSeleucid control by the 260s BCE, during the joint rule ofAntiochos I and his son, the futureAntiochos II.[2] It then became part of theRhodian Peraia as a result of theTreaty of Apamea and was eventually absorbed intoRoman Asia. Hyllarima remained an important local religious centre throughout the Roman period; a dedication of the 2nd century CE compares theemperorAntoninus Pius to Zeus Hyllos.[5] Afterconverting to Christianity, Hyllarima was the seat of a bishop in antiquity. It no longer has a residential bishop today but still remains atitular see of theRoman Catholic Church.[18]
The site was excavated by a joint French-Turkish team led by Pierre Debord and Ender Varinlioğlu from 1997. Their findings were published in 2018.[12]
The main theatre, built in the 2nd–1st centuries BCE, suggests that the town had a maximum population of approximately 1,500 at the time.[19] It is still visible today.[4]
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